Every CRM screen (Customers, Customer 360, My work, Collections, Receivables and the credit check) uses the same definitions, so they cannot disagree with each other or with the ledger.
Outstanding and advance
- Outstanding is the customer's ledger balance: all debits less all credits, in local currency (NPR), up to the date the figures are shown for. It is the same figure the ledger report shows.
- When the customer has paid in advance, Outstanding shows a minus figure, as the ledger does, and Advance held shows the same amount as a positive figure. The ageing buckets are then zero.
- Totals of many customers (Owed by customers on My work, Receivables on Collections) add up only the customers who owe money; advances are shown on their own. A ledger total of all customers nets the two.
- A posting entered in a foreign currency is counted in NPR like the ledger; the statement and Customer 360 show the entered amount beside it.
Open bills
A bill is a sales invoice that is not cancelled, or an opening bill from the customer's opening balances. It stays open while something is still owed on it after these:
| Reduces a bill | Counted when |
|---|---|
| A receipt that names the bill (its amount plus TDS) | Only once the receipt is posted. A receipt waiting for approval does not count |
| A sales return that names the bill | The return is not cancelled |
| A credit note that names the invoice | Always, except a credit note made from a return (the return already counted) |
A refund (payment) that names the bill adds back to it.
Ageing and overdue
- Days past due is the date of the figures less the bill's due date (the invoice's due date, else its date).
- The buckets are Not due, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and 90+ days past due.
- Overdue is the four overdue buckets together.
- Oldest overdue is the days past due of the oldest bill that still has money owing.
How the ageing is matched to the ledger
Open bills and the ledger balance can differ: a receipt not linked to a bill, a credit note not linked to an invoice, a journal. CRM matches them:
- if the open bills add up to more than the ledger balance, the difference is taken off the oldest bills first (as Accounting's ageing report applies receipts on account);
- if the ledger is higher than the open bills (a debit journal, an opening balance without bills), the difference is shown as unbilled debit and counted as not due.
So Not due + 1-30 + 31-60 + 61-90 + 90+ = Outstanding whenever the customer owes money.
Credit figures
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Credit headroom | Credit limit less outstanding (only when a limit is set) |
| Over credit limit | A limit is set and outstanding is above it |
| PDC in hand | Post-dated cheques and provisional cash received that are still Due or Clearing, less what has already come in on them. Deposited cheques are shown separately on Receivables |
A cheque can be part paid: a receipt against it, or provisional cash recorded against it. It stays Due until receipts reach its amount, and PDC in hand counts only what is still to come in on it. A receipt still waiting for approval is not posted, so its part is still counted in hand.
The credit check of a sale uses its own figures (the balance in the sale's branch, the age of the oldest unpaid bill): see How credit control works.
Receipts, revenue and how fast customers pay
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Last receipt, received in the last 90 days | Receipts posted to the customer's account |
| Revenue this year and last year | Sales invoices less returns that are not cancelled, by Accounting's fiscal year (zero when no fiscal year covers today) |
| Average days to pay, on-time payments | Credit invoices settled bill by bill in the last 12 months, timed to the last receipt after the sale. Cash sales (to a cash ledger, or paid in full with the sale) are left out, and invoices settled by a receipt on account cannot be timed and are left out. The Customer 360 payment trend uses the same rule |
| Days sales outstanding | Outstanding x 90 / sales of the last 90 days |
Which customers are counted
CRM works only with customer ledgers (a supplier marked Also a customer counts too). A supplier, a bank or the cash book is not a customer: CRM will not check credit, record a promise or set a credit hold for it.
The Customers list, its segment counts, its figures and My work count:
- every active customer, and
- a switched-off customer while it still has money on the books: a balance, an advance or a cheque in hand.
| Screen | A switched-off customer with money |
|---|---|
| Customers, segment counts, figures | Counted |
| My work totals | Counted |
| Collections worklist | Shown while they have overdue money |
| Receivables ageing | Counted |
| Credit check of a sale | Checked like any customer |
| Nightly collections run | Chased like any customer while money is overdue; the case closes only when nothing is overdue |
Common questions
Why is a customer's Outstanding a minus figure?
The customer paid in advance. Outstanding is the ledger balance, so a credit shows as minus, and Advance held shows the same amount as a positive figure.
A receipt is posted but the bill still shows open on the receipt screen.
A receipt that names no bill settles the oldest bills in CRM's ageing, while the receipt screen's list of due bills may still show one of them as open. The total owed is the ledger's either way.
Is a switched-off customer counted?
Yes, while it still has money on the books: a balance, an advance or a cheque in hand.